August 1, 1944, saw one of the largest urban uprisings of World War II. Since the beginning of the war and the joint Nazi-Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, the Polish government had existed in exile in London. By the summer of 1944, with…
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The history of the lunar rover, an extraordinary feat of engineering, began with its debut on the moon on July 31, 1971, during the Apollo 15 mission. The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), also known simply as the lunar rover, was a crucial development for…
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On July 31, 1777, a 19-year-old French aristocrat, Marie-Joseph Paul Roch Yves Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, received a commission, without pay, from the Continental Congress making him a major-general in the Continental Army. Lafayette had developed a great interest in the colonial…
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In the summer of 1676, Virginia’s tidewater region simmered with discontent. Economic hardship, political grievances, and ongoing frontier conflicts converged to ignite one of the most significant uprisings in colonial American history: Bacon’s Rebellion. The colony of Virginia in the 17th century was a…
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Only July 30, 1975, the famous, or infamous, leader of the Teamsters Union went to the Machus Red Fox Restaurant in suburban Detroit for dinner and was never seen again. “James Riddle Hoffa was one of America’s foremost labor organizers, known for his leadership…
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On July 29, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This pivotal moment in history marked the beginning of a new era in space exploration and science, laying the groundwork for…
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On July 29, 1948, the world that had been torn apart joined together again in the spirit of unity through sports in what has been called one of the most important Olympiads ever. Held in London, that year’s Olympics, known as the “Austerity Games,”…
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On July 28, 1868, the United States certified the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, a transformative moment in American history that fundamentally redefined the nation’s approach to civil rights and equality. This amendment, which arose during the Reconstruction era following the Civil War, sought…
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On July 28, 1935, a four-engine plane took a test flight from Boeing Field in south Seattle. When it rolled out of Boeing’s hangar, the company labeled it Model 299, but a newspaperman named Richard Smith dubbed the new bomber due to its many…
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The Geneva Convention is a series of international treaties and protocols that establish the standards for humanitarian treatment during war. The first of these conventions was adopted in 1864, and the most recent, the Fourth Geneva Convention, was adopted in 1949. These treaties play…
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